[ s t o r y ]
Legends and myths spoke of two Zodiacs
with completely different origins.
Annabella is a normal human girl who is superstitious of the existence of many mythical beings. Mostly so, the descendants of the two Zodiacs. A legend-believer, she strives to find the possessors of the descendants of the Zodiac… sooner rather than later, of course.with completely different origins.
Nelina is the descendent of the Jade Emperor. As such, she has one goal, and she’ll do anything and everything to achieve it: defeat the evil forces of the Cat and Ophiuchus to prevent potential chaos and war that may shake the world to its roots.
Ceroli is the girl chosen by the stars, given the ability to read one’s emotions. The spirits of the stars shall guide her through, but the rest is up to her. She and Nelina share the same goal, but work separately, not knowing of one another’s existence.
But, as many wise humans say…
“Legends can only speak so much.”
“Legends can only speak so much.”
[ a b o u t / p r e m i s e ]
Structured like that of Norn9, The Stellar Cause is a rather dark and highly fantasy otome game where there will be 3 protagonists with different personalities, and each protagonist can pursue four bachelors (making a total of 12 pursuable characters), who happen to be descendants of the Zodiac. The game will consist of a mix between the 12 signs of the Zodiac (Leo, Scorpio, Aries, etc.) and the Chinese Zodiac (Dog, Horse, Rabbit, etc.).
If the story is confusing, then here is a more in-depth explanation: originally, legends and myths told humans separate stories of each type of Zodiac. In other words, they remained separated and followed their own path and destiny. But then, Ophiuchus and the Cat banded together against the Zodiacs, forcing them together and breaking the legends / myths. Because of this, a severe war would break out if they strayed too far from the path they were fated to follow.
I came up with this story a few months back because as much as I like the stories about the Zodiac and Chinese Zodiac out there, I wanted to combine them together. I happen to be quite passionate about the Zodiacs, if I do say so myself. Since this is such a large project and quite ambitious of me, I might work on a smaller project first, probably about the 7 sins or the cardinal sins if that is how you normally refer them. Of course, it's going to be dark and fantasy to an extent as well.
Structured like that of Norn9, The Stellar Cause is a rather dark and highly fantasy otome game where there will be 3 protagonists with different personalities, and each protagonist can pursue four bachelors (making a total of 12 pursuable characters), who happen to be descendants of the Zodiac. The game will consist of a mix between the 12 signs of the Zodiac (Leo, Scorpio, Aries, etc.) and the Chinese Zodiac (Dog, Horse, Rabbit, etc.).
If the story is confusing, then here is a more in-depth explanation: originally, legends and myths told humans separate stories of each type of Zodiac. In other words, they remained separated and followed their own path and destiny. But then, Ophiuchus and the Cat banded together against the Zodiacs, forcing them together and breaking the legends / myths. Because of this, a severe war would break out if they strayed too far from the path they were fated to follow.
I came up with this story a few months back because as much as I like the stories about the Zodiac and Chinese Zodiac out there, I wanted to combine them together. I happen to be quite passionate about the Zodiacs, if I do say so myself. Since this is such a large project and quite ambitious of me, I might work on a smaller project first, probably about the 7 sins or the cardinal sins if that is how you normally refer them. Of course, it's going to be dark and fantasy to an extent as well.
[ c h a r a c t e r s ]
These characters are not official, and are always subject to change
main protagonists
These characters are not official, and are always subject to change
- Anabella, superstitious and passionate.
- Nelina, ambitious and tenacious.
- Ceroli, selfless and sincere.
- Knox, prideful and competitive. (Leo)
- Aron, snarky and deceptive. (Rat)
- Unya, sharp-tongued and meticulous. (Scorpio)
- Lucius, flirtatious and seductive. (Virgo)
- Equis, witty and intelligent. (Snake)
- Yin, split-personality and mysterious. (Gemini 1)
- Yang, laid-back and calm. (Gemini 2)
- Xander, cheerful and lovable. (Dragon)
- Allen, kind and prudent. (Dog)
- Vine, charismatic and dark. (Ophiuchus)*
- Nico, disquiet and sensitive. (Sheep)
- Devus, closed-book and enigmatic. (Libra)
side / supporting
- Ophelia, quiet and apathetic. (Cat)
- Aliciana, tender and empathetic. (Rabbit)
- Cleo, forceful and royal. (Tiger)
- Enri, audacious and strong-willed. (Ox)
- Kira, curious and bold. (Sagittarius)
- Momo, generous and hospitable. (Teorus)
- Ryne, knowledgeable and blunt. (Aquarius)
- Sara, adventurous and fun. (Aries)
- Ren, moody and bitter. (Cancer)
[ f e a t u r e s ]
These features are not official, and are always subject to change.
- Play as three protagonists of your choice to complete all the routes.
- A total of 12 pursuable characters; a mix of the 12 (13) signs of the Zodiac and the Chinese Zodiac.
- If you're bored with one character, a love triangle route will be inserted, so you can switch routes as you go along (much like Ozmafia).
- Around 530 000 words total.
- Around 60+ CGs.
- Free to play, hopefully; may turn commercial.
These features are not official, and are always subject to change.
- Play as three protagonists of your choice to complete all the routes.
- A total of 12 pursuable characters; a mix of the 12 (13) signs of the Zodiac and the Chinese Zodiac.
- If you're bored with one character, a love triangle route will be inserted, so you can switch routes as you go along (much like Ozmafia).
- Around 530 000 words total.
- Around 60+ CGs.
- Free to play, hopefully; may turn commercial.
[ r e c r u i t m e n t ]
Although this game is still in very early stages of development, I would be happy to accept any help you are willing to offer, even if it is just a little bit. There are some small roles that would help me in the long-run if you were willing to take on the role. Right now, all of this is volunteer work, and I can not pay you, especially because this is initially planned to be a free to play game. I will properly credit you for your work, though, both on Lemma and on other social media sites this may be featured on! In the event that this game turns commercial, the only payment agreement I could offer now is giving you the entirety of the game for free.- Idea bouncer - Helping me come up with unique ideas for each of the plots and different character backstories. This, though not extremely big, will help me make this game so much better, as I want to be able to make this a game where everybody can enjoy each and every route without having to worry about excessive repetition.
- Concept artist - This role just involves making colored sketches of all the characters listed above (excluding those from the notes section). These sketches can be brief and fast; they do not have to be meticulously shaded in or anything of the sort. The concepts would look something like this.
[ f e e d b a c k / q u e s t i o n s ]
(1) Does the story and premise sound interesting to you, to a certain extent? Which aspects of it really strike out to you? Which aspects don't?(2) Which type of character do you tend to "lean towards"? Which character here within this game seems to stand out to you the most? Why?
(3) Do you think it would be a good idea to make the antagonist (Vine) a route? Initially, I decided not to, but I would like to know your opinion.
(4) What do you think about having multiple main protagonists (such as how it is done in Norn9)? Do you think it's a good idea or not, taking into the amount of pursuable characters there are?
(5) Do you think that Anabella pursuing Aron, Unya, Equis, and Allen; Nelina pursuing Knox, Lucius, Yang, and Xander; and Ceroli pursuing Yin, Vine, Nico, and Devus are good matches? If not, do you have any suggestions of changes to make?
(6) Do you have any questions or comments about the idea?
(7) Do you have any advice for a first-time visual novel project leader/manager?